Reuters Health News Summary

October 03, 2012|Reuters

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

L.A.'s richest man ups the ante for city, cancer fight

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As owner of 5 percent of the LosAngeles Lakers, Patrick Soon-Shiong could walk into the lockerroom of the storied basketball franchise any time for a chatwith stars like Kobe Bryant. But the richest man in Los Angeleschooses to sit with the rest of his team's fans. "He's not oneof those owners who wants to be seen everywhere. He's just oneof the fans," said Bryant. The NBA star gives his owner a hugbefore every game for luck "and maybe some of the success" ofthe slender Los Angles surgeon who built a fortune exceeding $7billion as a biotechnology entrepreneur.

PARIS (Reuters) - Drugmakers Sanofi andBristol-Myers Squibb plan to revamp their 15-year-oldalliance from January 1 in response to lost exclusivity on twokey drugs and the arrival of generic competition in majormarkets. The move will see Bristol-Myers return rights to bloodclot preventer Plavix and blood pressure treatmentAvapro/Avalide to the French drugmaker in all markets, thecompanies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - A malaria drug made by India's Cipla has been pre-qualified by the World HealthOrganization (WHO), an important step towards its roll-outacross Asia, where millions of people are infected with themosquito-borne disease every year. The drug, which has alreadybeen used to treat 18,000 adults in India, is intended as thefirst-line treatment in a number of South East Asian countries,Cipla and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative said in ajoint statement on Wednesday.

Philippines defies church to push family planning

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Benigno Aquino issquaring off against his country's powerful Catholic church ina bid to give people free access to the means to limit the sizeof their families. The predominately Catholic country has oneof Asia's fastest-growing populations together with significantlevels of chronic poverty. While neighbours have acceleratedtowards prosperity, the Philippines has lagged.

Los Angeles to repeal ban on medical marijuana shops

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles City Council votedto rescind a newly enacted ban on storefront medical marijuanashops on Tuesday, allowing the city to avoid a referendum nextyear that some officials said would likely succeed in reversingthe prohibition. The council, in a blow to an industry thatoperates in violation of federal law, voted in July to ban potdispensaries and replace them with a system that would allow upto three patients to collectively grow marijuana.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Colorado doctors mostly supportlocal efforts to give kids their flu shots and other vaccinesat school - but they also have misgivings, a new study shows.In particular, they threw more support to school flu shots,versus other vaccinations. They were also worried about howschool vaccinations would affect their record-keeping and theirbottom line.

U.S. teen drinking and driving rate cut in half in 20 years

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The percentage of U.S. high schoolstudents who drink and drive has dropped by more than half intwo decades, in part due to tougher laws against driving underthe influence of alcohol, federal health officials said onTuesday. In 2011, 10.3 percent of high school students 16 andolder reported drinking and driving in the previous 30 days,compared to 22.3 percent in 1991, according to a new Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention study.